One week passed since the visit of Bolt and Yamigedo. Batzz was in his usual mood, which was a grumpy one. The exams were coming close and Gao was starting to be more nervous about them, knowing the consequences of failing. However, there was one moment, except of Buddyfighting that pushed those thought away.
"Come on now. You have to practice if you want to get better!" the soccer coach told the members of the soccer club that Gao and Kanata were in.
Batzz was watching the teenagers practicing and looked bored. Less bored than staying home and doing nothing. The reason he was at school was simply because it was easier to seal him if he was causing any trouble if Gao was near him.
Chibi Panda was into it and waved his arms excitedly as he encouraged Gao to block any shot coming at him.
He crossed his arms while Athora encourage his buddy.
"Keep it up Kanata. You can't let Gao get better than you again!"
The gray dragon grunted while he watched the ball being kicked around as the players tried to pass the defense. He found it boring since any kind of actions that could elevate the sport, from his point of view, were forbidden, "This is boring," he grunted his thought.
Athora gazed at Gao's buddy and replied, "Soccer is a fun sport to play Batzz. You just never played before."
"Shut up," the dragon grunted as he looked elsewhere, if anything less boring was going on.
Athora frowned, but didn't reply. He continued watching the match and smiled when he saw his buddy with the ball, "Go for it Kanata!"
Kanata passed the defense of the opposing team and cut the distance between Gao and himself.
Gao was getting pumped up and was ready to block the shot of the boy.
Kanata shot with everything he had while Gao jumped to block it. Gao saw that he wouldn't be in the way of the soccer ball in it and stretched his arms as much as he could. He managed to hit the ball that bounced on the bars of the net and flew towards the dragons.
"Look out!" Kanata yelled.
Athora flew out of the way while Chibi Panda ducked.
Batzz snorted and said, "What is-" He got the ball right on his snout and sent him in the air as he comically spun before landing on the ground, knocked out.
Gao ran near his buddy and saw that the dragon had a light nose bleed, "I'll bring him to the nurse office," he grabbed his buddy and ran inside the school with Chibi Panda behind him.
Kanata looked down, feeling guilty.
"Don't look down Kanata. It wasn't your fault at all and…" Athora hesitated for a few seconds before adding, "It would have been worse if he wasn't knocked out."
The boy nodded, "Yeah."
Episode 4 Part 1: Until The Tournament
Batzz suddenly woke up as he looked around. He was ready to fight anything that tried to ambush him when he felt a light headache. He put his hand on his forehead, he realised he had trouble breathing by his nose and put his other hand on his snout. He felt something obtruding his nostrils and was about to take it out when Gao said, "Wait until your nose stops bleeding."
"Don't order me to do anything kid," Batzz grunted and took one out, just so his nose bleed continued. When he saw that, he put it back where he took it, "Fine."
Gao sighed, "You're lucky it was only minor when you got that ball in the face."
"Big Boss has a hard face," Chibi Panda said with a smile.
"What b-" he remembered the ball coming at him and frowned, "Who did that? I'll destroy him!" he looked at Chibi Panda.
The SD panda dragon was nervously saying a few incomprehensible words.
"It's you who didn't dodge when Kanata warned you," Gao replied as he also frowned.
Batzz thought about it and did hear it. He lightly calmed down, but crossed his arms simply by the fact that Gao controlled him a little.
"After you were knocked out. Gao brought you here so the nurse can treat your wound Big Boss," Chibi Panda added.
"Keuf," the gray dragon grunted, don't think I owe you anything kid! Although… Forget that.
"Since you are better. Class is about to resume so…" Gao hesitated to continue, knowing how his buddy was already in a bad mood.
"I know!" the gray dragon grunted as he walked out of the nurse office.
Gao sighed, "It went better than I thought," he hit his head pretty hard after all.
"Yes," the mini dragon panda agreed before following the gray dragon.
When school was over Kanata was in the library with his buddy as he revised his studies for the exam that were about to start next week. The boy quickly closed his books and said with a bored voice, "Finished."
"You are great Kanata. You're already ready for your exams," Athora joyfully whispered at how fast Kanata was able to study quick and efficiently. Despite that, his joy was a little forceful.
"Yeah," the boy replied with boredom.
Athora sighed, "You are too intelligent for your current grade. Why aren't they made you skip it."
"That's almost impossible Athora," Kanata replied as he grabbed his stuff and they walked out of the library and returned home.
Athora felt the silence a little unnerving and said, "You have to work harder during you practice now Kanata. Gao can block most of your shot now. He's going to get better than you."
That made the boy smile, "Yeah, but I'm not going to let him get the best out of me. You know," he turned toward his buddy, "It feels really great when you aren't sure if you are going to succeed or not. Against Gao, I'm never sure if I can make a point or not and I think a buddyfight match against him might be the same."
"It's been long since you felt that way," his buddy said.
Kanata nodded as he and his buddy thought back how he lost interest in Buddyfight. They wondered how he could have lost his spark to play a game he enjoyed.
3 Years ago.
Kanata was preparing his deck case with excitement, "I can't believe we are preparing ourselves for our first match Athora," he checked to see if his deck was perfectly balanced.
Athora flew by his side and replied, "You sure are excited Kanata. I can feel your passion from here," he let a smile when he saw the large smile on his buddy.
"I never played the game before," he admitted. He started to put his final touch on his deck, "I didn't think it was cool until I saw the match between Gao and Kyoya."
"I was still in the future when it happened, how was it?" the dragon asked.
"It was extremely exciting. I could feel my blood pumping when they fought until victory. After this, I was saving money to make my deck when something more awesome happened. It was when Gao saved us from that Yamigedo demon. You saw the recording from Paruko, right?" Kanata asked.
"It's thanks to Gao that I could come in the past to be your buddy and that you weren't in stone anymore. Of course, I know about it since the fate of the monsters were resting on his shoulders," he chuckled as he flew near his buddy.
Kanata finished his deck and said, "Done. I'm ready to face anyone who wants to challenge me. I won't have to say no anymore."
"That's great. With me as your buddy, you are going to be a force to be recon Kanata," he smiled as they flew outside the chamber.
"Let's win this first match the best we can Athora," he said as they dashed toward their school.
"Just make sure to remember the rules and play your cards right," his buddy warned him.
"Don't worry. I got it," Kanata replied with a large smile on his face.
They ran toward their school. During lunchtime, Kanata walked around the school to find a potential opponent. He searched for an opponent, but people were more focused on their exams.
"Maybe today isn't the perfect day to find an opponent to Buddyfight," Athora gazed at his buddy, hiding his disappointment.
"You're right. It's not that easy for them," he replied. He sighed, "And it was today that my deck was ready."
"You want to play a match after school?" someone asked him.
The two turned around and saw a girl of Kanata's age.
She lightly smiled, "I think I want to play a match after school if you want it. All those studies are getting to me and it will be fun to let it out in a match."
The boy nodded and said, "Sure. We will have out match after school. Where to we meet?"
"At the mall," Her smile turned into a competitive one, "I'll show you what I can do."
"Sure," he replied.
They talked a little more as they finalised their plan for their match. As she walked away, his buddy said, "Lucks in on your side Kanata."
"Right," he checked his deck and said, "My first match," he felt his anticipation raising in his chest as he smiled.
Later on, they were at the mall and were ready to have their match. Kanata and his buddy walked in the mall. The boy was getting more and more excited as they approached the arena of the mall.
He checked his deck again, slowly getting a little nervous, "Do you think I'll win this match?"
Athora smiled and replied, "Of course. You've prepared for a long time for your match. As long as you know the rules and when to use your cards, you will win this match. I believe in you."
They reached the arena and saw the girl waiting for them with her deck ready.
"You're finally here," she said with her smile. She put her deck and waited for Kanata and his buddy to climb on their platform.
"I wouldn't miss my first match," Kanata replied as he prepared his deck.
"Let's win this match Kanata," Athora said.
"Let's do this," Kanata replied.
The match ended in two turns. Kanata won his match without losing a single life point. He looked at the girl and said, "Sorry," before nervously chuckling. He wasn't expecting to win his first match so fast and without losing a single point.
The girl of his school smiled and replied, "I underestimate you. You are better than I thought. Still," she chuckled, "I was expecting to win the match, or lose by almost getting all of your life point."
Kanata scratched the back of his head and replied, "I guess I planned my strategy very well."
"You are very smart Kanata. I'm sure you also have talents in Buddyfight," his buddy explained.
The girl said, "I think I should practice way more if I want to beat you Kanata. Maybe we'll have a rematch one day."
"Sure," he replied back.
They talked a little more about the future rematch they could have in the future before they went their own ways.
As they walked back to their home, Kanata looked at his deck with a big smile, "It was as fun as I thought it would be," he looked at his buddy, "I'm lucky to have you as my buddy too."
"It was a pleasure to participate in this match, no matter how short it was," Athora replied, smiling as his buddy smile.
The boy looked at his deck and commented, "Maybe I got a good deck against her own. I managed to block her first turn before ending the match quickly during the second turn."
"You didn't let her take your monsters, so your offensive was great during our last turn," his buddy replied. He warned, "But don't get overconfident. The next match might not be that easy."
"I won't," the boy replied before giggling as he thought of his first match.
Athora watched his buddy and could feel the spark of a buddyfighter shining inside of him. It was as if a star was shining inside the boy and that made the Star Dragon even more than glad to be his buddy when he came to the past.
The next day, the boy and his buddy had a few challengers who wanted to fight him. The news had quickly spread that they defeat the girl in a buddy match without losing a point and he got their attention. That made Kanata a little nervous, but also happy that he had many challengers to play with. Many of them wanted to beat him or get some of his life points.
During that week, Kanata managed to win all of his matches without losing a single point. The talents of the boy were clear and some of the better Buddyfighter were getting interested in him. As the boy kept winning without losing a single point, his mood changed and his buddy noticed it.
When they returned home, Kanata rested on his bed and sighed. His buddy asked, a little worried, "What is wrong Kanata? You are usually in a better mood after winning your matches."
"Well…" the boy thought of his answer. He eventually formulated, "I always win without losing a life. It's starting to feel like it's always the same," he added with a bored voice, "As if the match was a little pointless and I've won already."
Athora lowered his head and said, "Don't think too much about it. As some humans said, you will always find someone better than you and you will find it."
The boy lightly smiled and replied, "You're right. I'm sure there some people who will managed to beat me and take all my life in a match," before his smile disappeared, "I hope."
"I'm sure it will," his buddy replied.
The second week, Kanata had many buddyfight matches against his classmates and also other students from other schools who wanted to defeat him. Alas, the result remained the same. The boy was always victorious and never lost a life point during every of his matches. Kanata was losing hope of even losing a single point as everything repeated itself.
He was challenged, he played a match and won without any problem at all. He was feeling his motivation to win a match starting to drop.
His buddy was getting worried as he saw the light of the passionate star already starting to deteriorate. The bright star that the boy had was now dying out. The light was just a sparkle of what it once was and. What worried Athora more was that Kanata wasn't happy as he barely smiled anymore when he spoke of Buddyfight. It felt as if it was his usual school life where everything was too easy and demotivating. He couldn't find words to help him.
Things changed for the third week. He wasn't ready for that.
Kanata checked his deck as he quietly said, "The game seems to become a little dull."
Athora gulped when he heard that. It was the first time the boy expressed his thought of this game, "That's because you didn't meet a powerful opponent like this Gao you saw on the internet or Tasuku. They are both great buddyfighter from what I heard."
"What would it change?" Kanata asked.
His buddy couldn't reply. He checked around and tried, "Maybe we can ask for another buddyfight. Something might chance if we keep trying Kanata," he flew toward a student of the boy and asked, "Hello there."
"Hello," the student replied.
Athora checked on his buddy who nodded, "My buddy wants to know if you want a-"
The student nodded negatively and scoffed, "What's the point of having a match against him? No one can hit him. It's not fun to just lose like that. As if I'm playing just to lose without doing anything against the No Damage Fighter," he walked away.
"No damage… fighter?" Kanata whispered.
"What a jerk," the Star Dragon grunted before turning to his buddy who took it seriously.
The boy looked down as he put his deck case in his bag. He asked with little incertitude, "He's right?"
"No! He's not Kanata. He's just a jerk to refuse a match like that. Don't let him get to you," his buddy asked loudly.
The boy quietly nodded as he raised his head, "Yeah. He was saying it like that."
"Maybe some player might get interested if we wait a little," tried his buddy.
"Maybe," Kanata replied.
The day went by without anyone asking to have match with him. The boy heard a few students calling him as the No Damage Fighter. That wasn't really helping the mood of the boy. When the day was over, he walked outside of the school with his buddy while other students walked around him.
"No one asked for a match… And everyone is calling me the No Damage Fighter," the boy sighed.
"Such title that should be respectful is used as a bad omen it seems," Athora whispered as he gazed worryingly at his buddy.
"Hey, do you want to have a Buddyfight?" someone asked.
Kanata was about to reply when someone in front of him replied, "Yes."
He saw the boy joining the one who called him.
"Guess I'm too good for everyone. I thought someone was asking me for a second," Kanata whispered.
It was then that Athora realised that the spark in his buddy, grew dim and was about to die out.
Present time
Athora continued thinking about the past. It happened a few times where Kanata thought that someone was talking to him about having a Buddyfight matches or anything related to that, but it was never about him. It made sense why he thought no one was talking about him a few days ago when Tasuku wanted his buddy to participate in the upcoming tournament. His buddy spark died because of his title and that no one wanted to even try to break that title of No Damage Fighter. It wasn't really affecting Kanata now, but back them, it was painful to hear it for the boy.
He lightly smiled, it was in the past, "He won't skip a tournament this time," Kanata mind grew stronger thanks to soccer.
Meanwhile, Abygale was waiting outside of a room while ignoring what his buddy was doing inside. Gao and the two dragons passed in front of the class.
"Abygale. What are you doing here?" Gao asked while Batzz didn't care.
"I'm waiting for my buddy to finish his extra curricular activity. It's creeping me out so I'm waiting outside," the dark dragon replied.
Chibi Panda read what was written on the door, "Occult Club… What are they doing in there?"
"Occult stuff," Abygale didn't elaborate.
Batzz grunted, "Guess it's some stupid stuff and-" he opened the door and saw the boys practicing some occult stuff he didn't know about. The boys were around the circle with candles at the extremity of it. They were reciting something in another language. The gray dragon found it too weird and closed the door, "The more I know about humans, the weirder they are," before playing as if he never opened the door
"What are you doing now?" Abygale asked.
"We are going home. Baku is still preparing our deck for the tournament," Gao replied.
"With the new deck, Dragon World is going to be victorious," Chibi Panda declared.
"Then you should go now. Gaito is going to be here for a while," Abygale replied. He grumbled, "It's good he is more implicated in school but-"
They went outside of school, not hearing the rest of the darkness dragon comments.
Meanwhile, in Dragon World, Drum looked at the angry dragon shouting their disapproval at him.
"You can't have that dragon represent our world in the World Buddy Masters Tournament! That dragon almost destroyed our world!" one of the older dragon yelled at Drum.
"What kind of idiot would make that choice?" another one yelled.
"You spent too much time in the human world to know that you must pick the best for our world! Halberd would have been a much better buddy to Gao," a dragon of the thunder knight yelled.
Halberd was there, but put his hand on his forehead when he heard that.
"Barlbatzz is the worst dragon of all with his stupid ego of his! He is going to humiliate our world in this tournament."
Drum tried to say something, but his voice was covered by the angry dragons shouting at him non-stop.
One of them said something that chanced Drum's tactic as the ruler of Dragon World, "You're ex-buddy is an idiot to pick him," Drum picked his drill as he continued, "I mean, he knows who Bar-"
Drum punched that dragon in the face and put his drill near the throat of that dragon, "Enough of your whining! All of you! I will not tolerate anyone insulting Gao for any of his decisions. I know Gao better than any of you! He is an unorthodox buddy who cannot be underestimate by anyone! If he choose Barlbatzz as his buddy for the World Buddy Masters Tournament, then I'll respect his choice. Does any of you know why?"
None of them replied.
"Because no matter what, he will always give his best to win his matches. He is smart and can analyse any situation quickly. He can manage with a buddy like Barlbatzz. If it was anyone but Gao, I would have made him choose another buddy, but it's Gao! I won't hear any of your complain anymore and the next one who throws an insult at Gao will lose his tail! And I promise it will be the case," Drum walked away as the other dragons dispersed, not wanting to face the infuriated red dragon.
AC: This is the end of the first part. There is no buddyfight in this episode or it would have been too long and boring to see Kanata winning without losing any points. The match isn't directly a part of the plot.
Hope you like the things I add for Kanata to develop him a little more.
Next will conclude this before the tournament arc of the show begins. I hope you all enjoy it.